Busy week

On Monday night we won our beach volley ball game because the other team did't show up! We could play 3-3 against another team and it was fun. We could not get enough of it, so we (Philippe, Denis, a Swedish guy and me) played 2 against 2. We were surprised about how big the court was when you are only two. It was exhausting.

On Tuesday Sebastian, a German friend of Phil came over to have Mojito's and to hanged out.

I had to prepare my presentation for the SMAANZ (Sports Management Association of Australia and New Zealand) postgrad conference. I have to say; I was stressed! I don't like to present something that is not ultimate yet. Preparing the first presentation about my PhD (literature and methods) was not easy! I have read a lot of literature but I have the feeling that there is much more to read. On Wednesday morning Popi picked me up to go to Brisbane, Griffith University. On the way to Brisbane we found a good way to avoid the heavy traffic by taking the carpool lane (T2). T2 indicates that every car with 2 persons or more can use this lane. It is astonishing to observe that the vast majority of people are alone in their car. Therefore we managed to travel at maximum speed whereas the other cars were bumping into each other. We had some interesting presentations and it was very interesting for me to hear about the experiences of other PhD students who are further in their research. It showed that I am not the only one who is struggling with research objectives and research questions... It looks so easy, but it can be so confusing!  It was only a small group (8 PhD students) and 4-5 professors, but this way we could have good group discussions. During the sessions I realised that I still have to read some very important literature.... The presentations finished early. In the car back home I was discussing with Popi (my australian supervisor) about the objectives and research questions, and I changed them again. Philippe was surprised that I came home as it was planned to stay at Brisbane.

On Thursday morning I changed my research questions and objectives again in the car :-). It is sooo hard... and the other PhD students told me that they will keep on changing... I was the second to present and I was nervous. 15 minutes presentation and 15 minutes discussion. The discussion seemed to go on for ages... so much comments and feedback. But it was very useful! I had some good feedback for my confirmation. In spite of all the remarks, I got a lot of compliments about how far I am in only 6 months of time! Other students told me that they were not able to present after 6 months because the research was not clear at all in their head... Also the other presentations were very interesting! After the conference we went for a drink at the campus. Then I went home by train. Unfortunately I haven't had time to visit Brisbane and do some sightseeing, but we will go back once. I took a few pictures:

When I came back from the conference I was exhausted! Information overload!

Friday was a normal day, back to work. When I came back from home the little children were playing on the X-box:

Philippe and Denis were so concentrated on the game that they didn't notice I was making some pictures.

In the evening we had dinner at a Thai Restaurant. We walked there (15min). Then we saw a movie (Love Happens). Today we did our groceries and we worked a bit. Laundry, dishwasher, cleaning the house, doing groceries... Time goes fast.

Of course we are following the worldcup, but we cannot manage to get up at 4 in the morning... Philippe was disappointed to hear that the Germans lost their game against Spain. So now he is supporting the Netherlands. HUP HOLLAND HUP!

That was it,
Cheers,
Jessie & Phil